Grinding sound

[shoelesst]

Hello,
First time on the Forum so thanks in advance for any help I receive.

I have a fairly old Ricoh Aficio 2051. It works well except for a loud grinding sound coming from the back right of the machine (from the perspective of if you were in front of the machine. If you were standing in back of the machine the part is on the left, about 2.5 feet above ground)

It appears to be a black gear box. I don't know what it attaches to. I have attached a photo.

Thanks for any help you can give me.

[mikadonovan]

That is part of the toner recycling system. The white tube on the bottom of it and another behind the BICU/controller have augers inside. The toner will compact inside them and cause them to lock up. This is normally associated with an SC 495.
You are going to have to call your local Ricoh service tech for repair. This is not a DIY repair. If you let it go it will render your machine unusable an could destroy expensive parts.